Wilson High School's principal said he had been working with school resource Officer John Romero on Wednesday morning to figure out how to alert the community about a suspicious green van that was seen following students the day before.

Two high school students - a brother and sister walking home from Wilson on Tuesday - had been approached by a driver in a green van and told Romero about it, Principal Brian Chatard said.

"They got a really good description of the person, the van and a partial license plate,'' Chatard said. "We were talking about how to communicate the
description of the vehicle and person to the community.''

Chatard remained in contact with Romero by phone and text messages Wednesday, he said. At first, Chatard said, he planned to put out a notice from the school district. He was working from his laptop at Eugene's Matthew Knight arena, where he had traveled to watch the Wilson High girls basketball team compete in a playoff basketball game.

View full sizeBrian Chatard, Wilson High School principalPortland Public Schools

While at the arena, Knight said he received a text message from Romero about 1 p.m. Romero told him that the Police Bureau would issue a public safety alert instead.

At 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Police Bureau issued a news release: "Youth report suspicious vehicle in Hillsdale neighborhood,'' saying there had been two instances where students reported a man driving in an ''unspecified colored van'' acting in a suspicious manner.

As the game was wrapping up in Eugene, Chatard said one of the basketball team's coaches alerted him that Police Chief Mike Reese, who helps coach the girls' team, had to leave because there had been a shooting across from the high school in Portland.

As Chatard was leaving the arena, he said Portland Officer Ken Duilio, who also serves as Wilson High's football coach, called Chatard and told him that it was Wilson's school resource officer who was wounded and that it had occurred while Romero was investigating a suspicious van.

A 911 caller alerted police to a suspicious van near the Hillsdale library just before 4 p.m. Wednesday. Romero was among the officers who responded, and tried to stop a man who had walked away from the van. The man would not take his hands out of his pants pockets, and at one point turned toward Romero and looked like he was pulling out a gun, witnesses said. Romero fatally shot the man on Southwest Cheltenham Street. The man, pronounced dead at the scene, turned out to be a federal fugitive Kelly Vern Mark Swoboda.

"As evidenced by what happened, he took these
reports and took them very seriously,'' Chatard said of Romero in an interview Thursday afternoon. "He shows real commitment and follow-through.''

He said the incident shows the value of having officers assigned to schools.

"I just really wanted to reiterate how important
it is, and how great it is to have officers in our building that we know
personally and can respond to things like this to keep kids safe,'' Chatard said.

Chatard said he's thankful Romero, who was shot in the hand, is alive and that no students were injured.

"I want people to know how much we appreciate Officer Romero, and how what he did
probably prevented something really
terrible from happening to a student or any person in the area,'' Chatard said.

Chatard described Romero as well-liked by students. Though Romero serves not only Wilson High School, but the middle school and elementary feeder schools, he's "in and out'' of Wilson High pretty much every day, the principal said.

"He's a very easygoing guy, and has great rapport with our students. So when something like this occurs, students have somebody they know and trust who they can come to and talk about things.''

Chatard said he decided to put out a notice Thursday afternoon after a Wilson High student walking to school about 8 a.m. Thursday called Portland police when she was approached by a man in a white, cream-colored van. She gave a statement to police and police alerted the school. Chatard said he didn't know the exact location, and police did not release it.

Though Portland police said the 49-year-old man who Romero fatally shot Wednesday afternoon was the suspect who had been tracking students in a green van in recent days, Chatard said he doesn't want students or parents to drop their guard, considering Thursday's reported encounter.

"I thought it would definitely be prudent to let people know that something else happened today,'' the principal said. "I have no idea whether these are connected in any way, or what to make of it. It's a very odd set of circumstances.''